220 Marijuana Cases dismissed in Washington State

<QUOTE>Following the successful passage of a state referendum legalizing small amounts of marijuana for recreational use, two county prosecutors in Washington state have dismissed hundreds of misdemeanor marijuana cases. Although, the effective date of the referendum is not until December 6, the prosecutors used their discretion to apply the new rule retroactively.

The move underscores how, even though marijuana possession remains illegal under federal law, state initiatives legalizing possession for recreational use in Washington and Colorado could have far-reaching consequences. As a practical matter, virtually all arrests and prosecutions for marijuana possession occur at the state level.

The Department of Justice could sue to block enforcement of the law. Thus far, the federal government has not indicated if they will directly challenge Colorado and Washington.

In 2010, over 750,000 people in the United States were charged with possession of marijuana only.</QUOTE>

Now, while I think most drugs should remain illegal, Im of the opinion that marijuana should be taxed and regulated like cigarettes (after all, it was the tobacco companies that pushed criminalizing Marijuana)

And since the DoJ isnt pursuing a case; I think pot will be decriminalized sooner rather than later.

Devious Comments

I don't really care one way or the other when it comes to this new law. I've lived in Colorado all my life and everyone here has pot or has tons of friends who do. It's nothing new. I do, however, find it sad that people were willing to legalize a drug, however minor of one it may be, before passing laws to allow gay marriage.

The problem at this point is the connotation that marijuana carries. Marijuana should not be criminalized in my opinion, no. We spend way too much money on keeping those people out of society in prisons and such without providing them any real help. I feel like I am adopting much of Mr. Hicks's ideas on the subject, but that's okay. The worry that I do have with it is that there are plenty of people with idiot mentality on the subject who simply want to dive into marijuana because they 'think it's cool.'

Drugs are such a tricky topic to be sure. The main problem is that people who are addicted to the substances are sick and need help. There are some that are more harmful than others, such as the ones you listed. I believe that some drugs really do need to be decriminalized, but others really can be harmful. Then again... alcohol is legal, but that is quite a different subject than what this thread presents.

This is good progress, but we still need for marijuana to be legal on a federal level. Otherwise, people will continue to be arrested by federal agents for possession. Although the DoJ is not pursuing here, they have in the past pursued medical marijuana distributors and jailed them despite legality in the state. Thus, states can legalize as much as they want, but it means nothing unless the federal government does the same.

Unfortunately, I see no way of that happening any time soon. Republicans in the House will never allow it. Maybe Obama can circumvent it through funding or enforcement, but we still have some ways to go.